1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image encoding device for efficiently encoding and transmitting image data including a stereoscopic image, a stereoscopic image and plane image, a stereoscopic image and high resolution plane image, and a stereoscopic image and high resolution added image, and a stereoscopic image decoding device for efficiently receiving and decoding the image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the conventional encoding method of a stereoscopic image signal, patented is, for example, “Stereoscopic Video Image Transmission Method and System” disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (kokai) No. Heisei 11-018111.
The constitutional example of this invention is shown in FIG. 20.
A stereoscopic image 2001 is formed by left-eye images (◯) 2002 and right-eye images (X) 2003. They are disposed on a display as shown by 2001. Namely, left-eye images and right-eye images are aligned alternatively in every other vertical line. The example of FIG. 20 shows the sum of 352 pixels×288 lines including the left-eye images of 176 pixels×288 lines and the right-eye images of 176 pixels×288 lines.
The stereoscopic image 2001 is converted into a conversion image 2004. Namely, on the screen of 352 pixels×288 lines, the left-eye images of 176 pixels×288 lines are disposed at the left half and the right-eye images of 176 pixels×288 lines are disposed at the right half.
Then, as for the conversion image shown by 2004, the processing including MPEG encoding 2005, transmitting/recording 2006, receiving/reproducing 2007, and MPEG decoding 2008 will be performed.
The output image signal from the processing of the MPEG decoding 2008 reproduces the same stereoscopic image 2009 as the input signal of the stereoscopic image 2001.
The conventional technique, however, has the following defects.
Since the left-eye images are disposed at the left half and the right-eye images are disposed at the right half in the signal of the conversion image 2004, correlativity between the left-eye image and the right-eye image cannot be applied in the MPEG encoding. Namely, in the stereoscopic image, a nearby object is the data with the left-eye image distant from the right-eye image and a distant object is the data with the left-eye image approximate to the right-eye image, and especially, in a block indicating a distant object, efficiency of the data encoding can be improved by using the correlativity between the left-eye image and the right-eye image. In the conventional encoding method, however, it cannot be realized.
When displaying a stereoscopic image after encoding and transmitting the same on a stereoscopic image display, it is necessary to have a consideration to display the same signal simultaneously on a display for high resolution plane image. Namely, it is important to efficiently encode and transmit the image data formed by not only the stereoscopic image but also the stereoscopic image and high resolution plane added image. The conventional example, however, has never considered this.